Previewing Pompey away and deadline day, plus why Meister profiles like Agyemang

Is it dramatic to call today season defining?

Not the trip to Fratton Park. Whether Derby bring back three points, one, or none, there is still so much football to play. But whether The Rams will have enough fit players with enough quality to avoid regressing, which John Eustace reiterated was a possibility on Monday.

“Of course there is [a possibility of going backwards], but if that happens, then that happens. It's really important that we keep positive, and we understand where we are,” he said during his pre-match press conference.

“We're three games in. Last year we won one in the first eight. We're three games in, the squad has got a lot of injuries, it's not as strong as what it was when we finished and we're trying to rebuild again.”

Eustace praised the work of everyone at the football club over his tenure to date as “magnificent” and said that: “I'm confident we'll have a group that will be competitive. Whatever level that's at, we'll wait and see. A hefty asterisk there as he also conceded that there had “possibly” been a miscommunication when it came to having the resources to better last season’s eighth-place finish.

He said: “I think everyone can see that we need the help, for sure, to get into that top ten, to that top eight again” And the Rams boss, who will have the final say over signings today, insists that targets are “no different to if the club had been taken over or not”.

Eustace is hopeful that the club “can get three or four over the line before the end of play tomorrow.” That number has gone up from Saturday evening, when it included Henrik Meister whose signing has already been completed

Given the news that Lewis Travis has “gone for a scan” after limping off against Swansea, could that extra player be another midfielder?

Whatever happens off the pitch, on it Eustace wants a reaction. If The Rams can use a dismal day at the office as a motivational springboard, things could quickly be forgotten. Oxford away last season is the prime example.

While a five-game win streak is unlikely, a couple more through the door, some minutes for Meister after his £1.2m loan move from Pisa, and three points on the board would represent success come 11pm.

Henrik Meister: profiles like Agyemang

 

Meister, 22, is a powerful, rangy forward who stands at 6’ 4”. Able to play across the front line, John Eustace expects him to bring “pace, power and goals”.

The Dane came through at FA 2000 and was picked up by Fremad Amager before leaving his homeland for Norwegian side Sarpsborg. It was there that he attracted the attention of French Ligue 1 outfit Rennes, but he made just four appearances, scoring once, before moving to Italy.

The publicly available data surrounding Meister, who has scored four goals in 45 appearances for Pisa, does not look particularly impressive. But it must be considered that after winning promotion from Serie B in his first half-season, Pisa won just twice as they finished rock bottom of Serie A last season – hardly the ideal situation for a young striker looking to flourish. Consider too, that the percentile data from last season is compared to other forwards in Europe’s top five leagues.

From that, his standout figures are for successful dribbles (0.77/90, 58^th percentile), aerial duels won (1.96/90, 50^th percentile), and percentage of aerial duels won (42.3 per cent, 54^th percentile). The aerial prowess should be expected given his height, and the dribbles number comes with the caveat that his successful dribbles percentage of 35.1 per cent puts him in the 30^th percentile, suggesting that while he attempts many, just over a third come off.

Go back to his 538 Serie B minutes in 2024/25 (so a much smaller sample size than 1512 last term, but comparable to the Championship) and his goals/90 figure of 0.33 across seven starts and eight substitute appearances puts him in the 83^rd percentile compared to attacking midfielders/wingers, where he often featured.

His dribble numbers are similar - 1.17/90 puts him in the 57^th percentile, but that would be higher compared to strikers. Meister also won possession in the final third more than 80 per cent of comparable players and was in the 72^nd percentile for touches in the opposition box. His aerial duels won percentage of 38.9 per cent put him in the 57^th percentile, and while he won many ground duels (6.52/90, 78^th percentile) his percentage won of 35.1 per cent puts him in the bottom six per cent.

But all of this points to a profile like that of Patrick Agyemang: a pacey, powerful, rangy front man who is an aerial threat. Albeit the American’s numbers, in a more stable team, saw him in the 96^th percentile for successful dribbles (1.30/90) compared to other forwards, with a success rate of 36.4 per cent. He was in the 87^th and 74^th percentiles for duels won (7.04/90) and aerial duels won (3.55/90), with success rates of 38 and 46.8 per cent respectively last season too.

 While Meister’s first touch is not the greatest, and he needs to work on getting out of tight spaces, when he gets away, his speed and strength mean that the Dane can bully his way past defenders. While he may well start up front tonight, I can see a longer-term future for him in that inside forward role, running beyond Morris and leading the line when the number nine drops deeper.

If he can have an impact akin to Agyemang, that option to buy for circa £7m could well be triggered,

Connections

There is one man you knew had to get a mention somewhere in this piece: Ebou Adams is the only former Ram playing at Fratton Park. The Gambian midfield destroyer was the missing piece of Derby’s League One promotion puzzle after arriving on loan from Cardiff in January 2024. He returned permanently upon promotion and won The Rams’ player of the year award in 2024-25. John Eustace made him captain upon his arrival as manager, before demoting the former Forest Green man to vice-captain in August 2025 after Lewis Travis’ signing. Adams moved to Fratton Park in January, where his tenacity has seen him become a cult hero again. January 2024 – January 2026, 89 apps, 8 goals.

The only former Pompey man in the Derby squad will not feature due to injury. Matt Clarke was Pompey’s player of the season in 2018 and 2019. He spent four years at Fratton Park (including 2015-16 on loan from Ipswich) before being sold to Brighton who loaned him straight to The Rams. Now in his third spell with Derby, he has won player of the year twice at Pride Park too.  August 2015 - June 2019, 175 apps, 9 goals.

Portsmouth

After guiding Portsmouth to the League One title in 2023-24, John Mousinho comfortably kept them up the following season, winning plaudits for his style of play. However, last season was more of a dogfight for Pompey, despite finishing just two places lower than in the previous campaign.

Mousinho’s men struggled for goals, with Croatian number 10 Adrian Segečić the only player to score more than five (11). Ranking highly for accurate long balls and crosses, composure in both boxes proved costly as conceded the eighth-most goals per match despite conceding the seventh-lowest xG.

This season, they have three points under their belts so far, having won 3-1 at Lincoln, but have fallen to defeats at Bristol City, at home to QPR, and at West Ham in the league Cup.